site.btaSocialists Debate National Assembly Leadership Rotation

The National Council of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) convened for a meeting on Sunday expected to discuss a possible rotation of the chairperson of the National Assembly.

On October 21, following a session of the Joint Governance Council of the ruling three-party coalition, it became known that GERB and There Is Such a People had raised the issue of introducing a rotating chairmanship of Parliament as part of the shared governance arrangement between the coalition partners.

On his way into Sunday’s meeting of the BSP National Council, MP Ivan Petkov commented to journalists that the Socialists will most likely decide that there should be a rotation of the National Assembly chairperson. According to him, however, the rotation scheme may be abandoned after GERB’s Raya Nazaryan is elected to the legislature’s chairmanship.

“The question is whether it should continue, because from this point onwards we can see that Delyan Peevski has greater influence over the cabinet,” Petkov said.

He was referring to the leader of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms – New Beginning. The party is not officially a member of the government coalition but its parliamentary group, and Peevski personally, have supported its policies. On October 22, Peevski and GERB leader Boyko Borissov issued a joint statement confirming their shared commitment to ensuring that the government serves out its full four-year term until 2029.

Petkov added that many of BSP’s voters have been asking what the party’s “red lines” are regarding its participation in the ruling coalition. In his view, the current situation is unacceptable, and he intends to propose that BSP withdraw from the coalition. “They have a head on their shoulders — maybe it’s good for the country — but in my opinion, knowing what’s happening around Delyan Peevski, we might end up with ‘a new white bus’,” Petkov warned, alluding to the 2013 protests.

He also suggested that the current National Assembly Chair, Nataliya Kiselova, may be “sacrificed”. Kiselova was nominated for the post by BSP-United Left.

The Socialists’ Velislava Dareva told journalists that, in her opinion, BSP should immediately leave the current governing arrangement.

Asked how he would vote on the issue of rotation, Valeri Zhablyanov replied: “I will vote according to my conscience.”

Alexander Tomov, a coalition partner in the BSP–United Left, stated that Nataliya Kiselova should not be replaced, but rather that a rotational principle should apply.